Oxidizing means



1933- A. o. HIGINBOTHAM ,929,493

I OXIDIZING MEANS Filed Feb. 4, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY.

Oct. 10, 1933. A. o. HIGINBOTHAM OXIDI Z ING MEANS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 4, 1929 Oct. 10, 1933. A, o. HIGINBOTHAM OXIDI Z ING MEANS Filed Feb. 4, 1929 f 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IVENTOR. A. 0. fiy/nof/wm iTTORA'E)".

Patented Oct. 10, 1933 oxnnzme MEANS Arthur 0. Higinbothain,

Denver, 0010., assignor of one-half to William A. Weigele, Denver,

Colo.

Application February 4, 1929. Serial No. 337,358

8 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in means for oxidizing smoke or gases in a combustion chamber, especially by introducing air into the chamber and thoroughly mixing same with the smoke or gases therein.

An object of the invention is to provide means for introducing pressure fluid into the combustion chamber, whereby to cause a turbulence in the air and unoxidized gases therein. The'tur- 'bulence thoroughly mixes the air and these gases, thus oxidizing the mixture and-making it combustible.

Another object of the invention is to provide means'for introducing air and pressure fluid for a predetermined period into a combustion chamber after a fresh charge of fuel has been placed on the fuel bed and after the fire door has been closed.

A further object is to provide safety means whereby the pressure fluid is automatically shut 01f when the fire door is opened.

Other objects reside in details of construction and in novel combinations and arrangements of parts, as will more fully appear in the course of the following description.

In the drawings, like reference characters designatesimilar parts in the several views.

7 Figure 1 is a partially sectional elevation, showing a device that has been constructed in accordance with the present invention, applied to a furnace.

Figure 2 is a plan View of same. The dotted 7 lines indicate .a different position of the fire door of the furnace, and associated parts.

' Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevation of th operatingmechanism.

Figure 4 is an enlarged, sectional perspective view of a valve used inthe invention for automatically shutting off a pressure fluid when the I 40 fire door is open.

Figure 5 is an'enlarged sectional elevation of another valve used in the invention.

Figures 6 and 7 are enlarged perspective views of a toggle used in the invention before and after same is tripped.

Referring more specifically to the. drawings, the reference numeral 5 designates the fire door of a combustion chamber. A hinge pin 6 for the door is supported in knuckles 7 on the furnace wall.

I 50 The pin is fixed in the knuckles by set screws 8.

The upper end of the pin has a longitudinal bore 9, has a port 10 for the bore, and is circumferentially grooved as at 12. A housing 13 is provided for this hollow portion of the pin. The housing has enlarged bores 14 at opposite ends {1 3 for the reception of packing glands" 15. The housing also has transversethreaded bores 16 and 17, the first of which is opposite the groove 12 and the other is oppositethe port 10 and disposed to register therewith when the fire door Q0 5 is closed.

A pressure fluid inlet pipe 18 connects with the bore 9 of the pin.. The bore 1'? is connectedwith a pipe 19 for the conveyance of the pressure fluid to the combustion chamber of the furnace past l a valve 31 hereinafter to be described. The pipe 19 has an outlet 20in said chamber.

A rod 21 is screwed at one end" into the bore 16, and at the other .end' is fastened to the fire door by a bolt 22. A dowel pin 23 is inserted in @Q the bore 16 and placed in engagement with the groove 12, to maintain the position of the housing on the hinge pin. A spring 24 is then placed in the bore 16 between the pin 23 and the rod 21, to maintain the housing in position. I {15 The valve 31 has a housing 25 having intersecting passages as shown at 26 and 27. Inlet and outlet pipes 19 and 29connect with the passages 27 and 26 respectively. A valve seat 30 is provided in the passage 26 for the valve. 31. The valve" has an elongated stem 32. The passage 27 is closed at one end by a plug 33.

The portion of the-passage 26 opposite the valve seat isenlarged for the greater part ofits length as at 34; a portion of which is threaded. $35 A beveled shoulder 35 connects the larger-and smaller sections of the passage. A bushing 36 around the valve stem engages theshoulder 35, and fills the smaller portion of the passage.

A gland 37 is screwed into the threaded sec- L99 tion of the passage 34 for the compression of packing around the stem. The valve stem 32 passes through the gland 36 and extends through and beyond a cylinder '38 below the valve. The cylinder contains a coil spring 40 around the {9,5 valve stem,32; A piston 41, movably fitted in the cylinder,.is fastened on thevalve stem 32 by a cotter pin 80. The opposite end of the cylinder has a fixed plug 42. The coil spring abuts against the piston and the plug, which continuously tends to move the valve 31 to its seat 30. 1

The end of the valve stem opposite the valve is threaded and has spaced nuts 43 and accompanying lock nuts 44.

The mechanism for opening the valve against the action of the spring 40 will now' be described.

Thefire door has small bearings 45 for a stub shaft 46. A pin 47, extending through an aperture 48 in the door and. bearing against av wall l lo the fire door.

of the furnace, is pivotally mounted on the stub shaft 46. The pin normally projects beyond the inside surface of the door by means hereinafter to be described, and it follows that when the door is being closed the contact of the pin with the furnace wall will cause rotation of the shaft 46.

It is suggested that a clock movement such as shown in my Patent No. 1,672,316, issued June 5, 1928, be used for controlling the expansion of a spring 59, after it has been compressed by closing of the door, as hereinafter described. Only a housing 50 for the clock movement has been 'shown in the present case, since the clock movement per se forms no part of the present invention.

A shaft 51 controlled by the clock movement projects through the housing 50. A bell crank 52 is loosely mounted on the shaft 51, and a ratchet wheel 53 is fixed on the shaft 51. The

bell crank carries a pawl 54 disposed to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 53, but separable therefrom.

A rod '55 is pivotally connected with the bell crank 52 and with an arm 56 fixedly mounted on the stub shaft 46. The rod 55 has a stop member 57 and freely passes through a second stop member 58, which is pivotally connected with the arm 56. The stop members provide abutments for the coil spring59.

The greater weight of the coil spring 59 and its associated parts moves the bell crank in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 3, when the fire door is opened, becausethe pin 4'7 is free to move through the aperture 48 when the fire door 5 is swung open.

When the bell crank 52 is rotated in a counter clockwise direction, by the coil spring 59 under the control of the clock movement, it engages a screw 60 on a trigger 61, which is fulcrumed by means of a bolt 62 on an arm 73 fastened to the housing 50 by a bolt '72. The trigger 61 has an arm 63 at the end opposite that carrying the screw 60. A toggle having members 64 and 65 is kicked by the arm 63 when the bell crank 52 has moved the screw 60 'a sufficient distance.

The toggle members 65 and 64 are movably connected by a screw 66 and'are respectively connected to a push bar 67 and a rocker arm 68, both of which are pivoted on a shaft 69. The rocker arm ispivotally connected at one erid to the toggle member 64 and at the other end is held between the sets of nuts 43 and 44 on the valve stem 32. p

A cam '70 is fixed on the stub shaft 46 and as the fire door is being closed, this cam moves the push bar 6'7 to the position shown in Figure 3, thus tipping the rocker arm to the position shown in Figure 6, whereby the valve 31 is moved from its seat. 7

A coil spring '71 is placed around the screw 62.

One end of the spring bears against the screw '72 and the other end is inserted through an opening 81 in the arm 63, which tends to hold the arm 63 away from the toggle.

A shaft '73, operated by the clock movement, carries a cam '74. A roller '75 rides on the cam end, by its operative connection with cranks '77 on shafts '78 opens and closes shutters '76 that control the passage of air through an opening in Further description of the construction and operation of the shutter-opening and -closing mechanism is thought unnecessary since it is not per se a part of the present invention and since it is completely disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 43,044, filed July'11, 1925.

It should suffice to say that in their operation the shutters are closed at the time the fire door is shut and thereafter open and close to allow air to enter the combustion chamber. The pressure fiuid is admitted at the same time, by the means described, to agitate or mix the air and unoxidized gases to oxidize the latter and thus render it combustible. 85

The operation of the present invention is as follows: Pressure fluid for causing turbulence in the combustion chamber is conveyed through a linecomprising the pipes or conduits 18, 19 and 20. Two valves are interposed in this line. The first valve is provided by the housing 13 being movable by the furnace door to positions in which the bore 1'7 is in'and out of register with bore 9, which receives pressure fiuid from the pipe 18. The bore 17 connects with the pipe 19.

This housing 13 is connected to move with the fire door 5, so that when the fire door isclosed, the bores 9 and 1'7 are'connected, and when the fire door is opened, these bores are not connected, which automatically turns the pressure fluid on or off, depending upon whether thefire door is sure fiuid at a predetermined time after the fire door is closed. The operation of this valve will now be described.

When the fire door is opened, the pin 4'7 projects through the aperture 48, on account of a greater counter-balanced weight being on the i opposite side of the shaft 46. As soon as the fire door is closed, the pin 4'7, abutting against the furnace wall, is pushed lengthwise of the aperture, in the direction of the arrow B" in Figure 3. This movement of the pin causes counter-( clockwise movement of the arm56 and the cam '70 around the stub shaft 46, as they are shown in Figure 3. s

Said movement of the arm 56 compresses the spring 59, while said movement of the cam '70 1120 moves the valve 31 from its seat through the intermediary of push bar 6'7, togglemembers 64 and 65, rocker arm 68, and valve stem 32. The valve '31 is held in its open positionthroughout a period predetermined by setting the screw 60.125

The clock movement in the housing 50 permits the spring 59 to slowly move the bell crank 52 in a counter-clockwise direction, as the crank is shown in Figure 3. The pawl 54 on the crank engages ratchet 53, which is fixed on the shaft 51, and slowly moves said shaft against the action of the clock movement.

When the bell crank 52. abuts the end of the screw 60, the trigger 61 is moved about its pivot until the arm 63 on the trigger strikes the toggle joint 66 and trips the toggle. As soon as the tog gle is tripped, no means are provided for resisting the action of spring 40, so that it closes the valve 31, thus shutting off the supply of pressure fiuid to the combustion chamber.

It is to be understood that steam, compressed air, or the like, may be used as the pressure fluid. Moreover, other actuative mechanism may be substituted for the spring 59 and-the clock mechanism'; i. e., any suitable means may be used for 145 rotating the shaft 51. The use of other equivalents is also possible without departing from the scope 'of the invention, all of which I consider to be comprehended by my invention and covered by the hereunto appended claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination of a combustion chamber having a fire door, a line connecting a source of fluid pressure with the chamber, a valve in the line, means to open the valve by closing movement of the door, a valve-closing element set by said means, a device to release said element, and time mechanism controlling the action of said device.

2. The combination of a combustion chamber having a fire door, a line for conveying pressure fluid to the chamber, a valve opened by closing movement of the door to admit the fluid to the chamber, means to hold the valve open and to close same after a predetermined period, and mechanism independent of said valve to shut 01f the supply of pressure fluid when the fire door is opened.

3. The combination of a combustion chamber having a fire door, means to convey pressure fluid from a source to the chamber, and a. valve controlling the fiow of pressure fluid through said means, the valve comprising a stationary element and an element movable with the door, the elements having fluid passages relatively disposed to register when the fire door is closed and to be out of register when the fire door is opened.

4. The combination of a combustion chamber having a fire door, a conduit to convey pressure fluid from a source to the chamber, a fixed hinge pin for the door having a bore to provide a fluid passage, the passage being connected with said conduit and having an outlet port, a housing rotatably mounted on the bored portion of the hinge pin, and a connection between the fire door and the housing to make them move simultaneously, the housing having a passage registering with the port when the fire door is closed.

5. The combination of a combustion chamber having a fire door, a fixed hinge pin for the door having a valve element, a housing movably mounted on said element to open and close the valve, a fluid pressure line controlled by each valve, and means locking the pin and the hous ing against relative motion, except in a predetermined manner.

6. The combination of a combustion chamber having a fire door, a line connecting a source of pressure fluid with the chamber, a valve in the line, toggle means to open the valve by movement of the fire door, said means including pivoted links adapted to lock when in alinement, said links being in alinement when the valve is opened by said means, and mechanism to move the links out of alinement at a predetermined time after the fire door is closed.

'7. The combination of a combustion chamber having a fire door, a source of pressure fluid, a conduit connecting the source of pressure fluid with the chamber, a valve in the line, a spring tending to close the valve, mechanism to open the valve against the action of the spring, by movement of the fire door, said mechanism including hinged members in one position holding 100 the valve open, and means to move the hinged ends of the members to another position to release said mechanism and allow the spring to close the valve.

8. The combination of a combustion chamber 105 having a fire door, a source of pressure fluid, a conduit connecting the source of pressure fluid with the chamber, a normally closed valve in the line, mechanism to open the valve by movement of the fire door, said mechanism including hinged 110 members in one position holding the valve open, and means to move the hinged ends of the members to another position to release said mechanism and allow the valve to close.

ARTHUR O. HIGINBOTHAM. 

